Gareth Bale became the most expensive player in football history last night
and immediately described his €100 million (£86 million) move from Tottenham
Hotspur to Real Madrid as “a dream come true”.

After a month of intense negotiations, Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy finally signed off on a straight cash deal with Real Madrid that surpasses the previous transfer record of £80 million that was spent on ­bringing Cristiano Ronaldo to the Bernabéu from Manchester United.

Levy also issued a statement in which he claimed that fears over Bale’s attitude and commitment had been the reason for sanctioning the deal rather than the huge transfer fee that has already been re-invested back into the squad.

“Gareth was a player we had absolutely no intention of selling,” said Levy. Such has been the attention from Real Madrid and so great is Gareth’s desire to join them, that we have taken the view that the player will not be sufficiently committed to our campaign in the current season.We have, therefore, with great reluctance, agreed to this sale.”

Bale’s transfer was formally confirmed last night following Spurs’ defeat against Arsenal in the north London derby, with the 24-year-old also releasing a statement detailing his reasoning for leaving.

“I have had six very happy years at Tottenham, but it’s the right time to say goodbye,” Bale said. “We’ve had some special times together and I’ve loved every minute of it.

Related Articles

"I am not sure there is ever a good time to leave a club where I felt settled and was playing the best football of my career to date. I know many players talk of their desire to join the club of their boyhood dreams, but I can honestly say this is my dream come true.

“I would like to thank everyone at the club, the chairman, board, staff, coaches and players – and most of all the fantastic fans, who I hope will understand this amazing career opportunity,” he said.

Bale’s agent, Jonathan Barnett, said last night: “It is 110 days since we started negotiations. But Gareth is worth every penny. It’s not been easy. In fact, it took two hours just to pen the press release for today.”

On working with Levy, Barnett added: “He’s a pleasure to do business with. He’s hard. But he does what is best for his club and we do what is best for our client. We cross swords but afterwards go for a pint.”

The Bale deal is likely to have a domino effect on the European transfer market, with Kaka expected to rejoin AC Milan and Arsenal hoping to make signings today from Real Madrid. Southampton will also receive £2 million as a result of the world-record Bale deal from the Fifa solidarity payment that relates to the development of players. They would have received around £10 million had a sell-on clause not been subsequently bought out by Spurs.

Andre Villas-Boas, the Tottenham manager, insisted last night that the club should not be anxious about embarking on the post-Bale era although a sense of unease was still around the club last night after a potentially serious injury to one of his new signings, Etienne Capoue.

There is no doubt that Spurs could have used Bale’s talents at the Emirates Stadium yesterday but Villas-Boas says there should be no sense of trepidation in moving on without him.

“The player’s a wonderful player, he’s agreed to join Real Madrid, so we wish him all the best,” Villas-Boas said. “We have to move forward. Tottenham has made some great reinvestments with the money that will come from Gareth Bale into the team, which is wonderful.”

One player who Spurs have already spent some of those funds on is Étienne Capoue, the French international midfielder, who was carried off in apparent agony after suffering injury late in yesterday’s game. His ankle gave way as he challenged for the ball with Santi Cazorla but Villas-Boas is fearing more serious damage to his leg. “I don’t have the complete report,” Villas-Boas said. “It doesn’t look very good at the moment. It’s the fibula. It’s a bit more concerning, we just have to wait.”

Having already spent more than £100 million in the current transfer window, Villas-Boas confirmed that the club would be making no further purchases on deadline day.

However, he did suggest that some players, possibly including Benoît Assou-Ekotto, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Jermain Defoe, could leave.

Defeat to Arsenal ended Tottenham’s 100 per cent start to the Premier League campaign, although ­Villas-Boas felt they deserved something from the game.

“The fairest result would be a draw, bearing in mind what we did in the second half . In the first half, Arsenal were very strong. It was difficult for us to control their pace. As soon as we started to control the game we started creating. The second half was all ours.”